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Christopher Achen
My principal research area is political methodology, applied particularly to issues arising from empirical democratic theory. Much of my research has focused on American politics, but in recent years I have branched into comparative politics. My co-edited 2006 Cambridge Press book was focused on decisionmaking the European Union. I have two other book projects underway, one studying voter turnout in international perspective (with Richard Sinnott of University College Dublin), and the second a reconsideration of democratic theory in the light of the last half century of public opinion and voting research (with Larry Bartels). Visit WebsitePublications Cross-Level Inference (co-author with Shively)
Cross-level inference makes unusually strong demands on substantive knowledge, so that no one method will fit all situations. Criticizing Goodman's model and recent attempts to replace it, the authors argue for a range of alternate techniques, including extensions of cross-tabular, regression analysis, and unobservable variable estimators. This volume also explains why older methods like ecological regression often fail, and it gives a comprehensive treatment of some of the more promising new techniques for cross-level inference. 
The European Union Decides
European legislation affects countless aspects of daily life in modern Europe but just how does the European Union make such significant legislative decisions? How important are the formal decision-making procedures in defining decision outcomes and how important is the bargaining that takes place among the actors involved? This volume focuses on the practice of day-to-day decision-making in Brussels and the interactions that take place among the Member States in the Council and among the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament. A unique data set of actual Commission proposals are examined against which the authors develop, apply and test a range of explanatory models of decision-making. |
